National Canned Foods Month Is Here: Free Home Canning Resources You Can Use

February is National Canned Foods Month, and while it’s a good time to stock up on canned goods for the pantry, it’s also a time to embrace home canning. Whether new to home canning or a pro, you’ll find plenty of great resources in the videos, lessons, and free guides provided below. Home canning is cost-efficient and ensures that food is always ready on hand, whenever the need arises. You can prepare your own canned foods regardless of your home environment as it doesn’t take a lot of kitchen space and canned foods can easily be stored in a pantry, basement, or kitchen cabinet. While certain foods have an in-season, you can make canned foods year round and preserve foods at their peak and enjoy them at your leisure. Learning how to prepare your own canned foods isn’t difficult and it’s a venture that pays off in multiple ways. To begin learning about home canning for National Canned Foods Month, watch the videos in the playlist above and below.

Home canning divides foods into two types including those with low acidity and high acidity. Low acidic foods must be canned using the pressure cooker method in order to prevent harmful and dangerous bacteria from growing. Those with high acidity can be canned using a water-bath canning method. Understanding the different acidity of foods will ensure that your home canned foods aren’t just delicious, but safe and nutritious as well. Here is a video from the Ohio State University that explains the difference between low acidic and high acidic food and why you would need to use the pressure cooking canning method instead of the water-bath method.

Here are video instructions for home canning meats, vegetables and more. Never can foods unless you understand its acidity and are certain you are canning safely and using the correct method. Here are more videos from the Ohio State University Extension that feature water-bath canning methods and pressure canning.

Did you know that home canning makes wonderful gifts? You can also make beautiful and creative gifts from mason jar crafts. Find out more in these videos.

Home Canning Foods Free Resources, Tips, Lessons, and Instructions

• Complete Guide to Home Canning 2015 Revision and Update: The USDA has provided home canning guides through Utah State University. These free home canning guides have become the go-to source for many people embarking on a canning journey. As new technology is developed and new research reveals different approaches and methods, the USDA canning guides are updated. This is the revised and updated Complete Guide to Home Canning 2015 version in separate, downloadable pdf files.
• National Center for Home Food Preservation: The NCHFP keeps home canners up-to-date with the latest methods, news, scientific research, and more regarding home canning and food preservation. You’ll find a wealth of free information, guides videos, publications and more.
• University of California Safe Canning Methods: This is a concise, basic guide that explains the two main types of safe canning and when to use each.
• Utah State University Home Canning Publications: The Utah State University has an extensive collection of publications featuring the latest resource-tested methods developed in home canning.
• Clemson Extension Canning Foods at Home: This guide discusses the different types of home canning methods and the types of foods that require pressure canning.
• Complete Guide to Home Canning: This USDA resource and free guide is over 150 pages and provides an extensive and comprehensive look at home canning, techniques, benefits and safety. (Year unknown)
• Canning Seafood: Free guide shows you how to can and preserve seafood such as fresh fish, tuna, salmon, oysters, crabs, clams, and more.
• Canning Tomatoes and Tomato Products: This guide has lessons for those canning tomatoes and tomato products. Canned tomatoes is a popular canned food type.
• Purdue Extension Home Canning: Though Purdue sells the complete USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, they have numerous free publications in their store pertaining to canning and gardening. Check the bottom of the page for resources.

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